WARD

cellblock, ward

(noun) a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells)

ward, hospital ward

(noun) block forming a division of a hospital (or a suite of rooms) shared by patients who need a similar kind of care; “they put her in a 4-bed ward”

ward

(noun) a district into which a city or town is divided for the purpose of administration and elections

ward

(noun) a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another

Ward, Montgomery Ward, Aaron Montgomery Ward

(noun) United States businessman who in 1872 established a successful mail-order business (1843-1913)

Ward, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold Ward

(noun) English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the women’s suffrage movement (1851-1920)

Ward, Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth

(noun) English economist and conservationist (1914-1981)

guard, ward

(verb) watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect; “guard my possessions while I’m away”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

ward (plural wards)

(archaic or obsolete) A warden; a guard; a guardian or watchman.

Etymology 2

Noun

ward (countable and uncountable, plural wards)

Protection, defence.

(obsolete) A guard or watchman; now replaced by warden.

The action of a watchman; monitoring, surveillance (usually in phrases keep ward etc.).

Guardianship, especially of a child or prisoner.

An enchantment or spell placed over a designated area or social unit, that prevents any tresspasser from entering; approaching; or even being able to locate said protected premises/demographic.

(historical, Scots law) Land tenure through military service.

(fencing) A guarding or defensive motion or position.

A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision.

An area of a castle, corresponding to a circuit of the walls.

A section or subdivision of a prison.

An administrative division of a borough, city or council.

(UK) A division of a forest.

(Mormonism) A subdivision of the LDS Church, smaller than and part of a stake, but larger than a branch.

A part of a hospital, with beds, where patients reside.

A person under guardianship.

A minor looked after by a guardian.

(obsolete) An underage orphan.

An object used for guarding.

The ridges on the inside of a lock, or the incisions on a key.

Etymology 3

Verb

ward (third-person singular simple present wards, present participle warding, simple past and past participle warded)

(transitive) To keep in safety, to watch over, to guard.

(transitive) To defend, to protect.

(transitive) To fend off, to repel, to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.

(intransitive) To be vigilant; to keep guard.

(intransitive) To act on the defensive with a weapon.

Synonyms

• (to fend off): ward off

Anagrams

• draw

Etymology

Proper noun

Ward

An English occupational surname for a guard or watchman.

An English given name

A corruption of the name Edward

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Ward is the 79^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 260,464 individuals. Ward is most common among White (75.58%) and Black (18.50%) individuals.

Anagrams

• draw

Source: Wiktionary

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-ward, -wards. Etym: [AS. -weard, -weardes; akin to OS. & OFries. - ward. OHG. -wert, G. -wärts, Icel. -verthr, Goth. -vaírÞs, L. vertere to turn, versus toward, and E. worth to become. *143. See Worth. v. i., and cf. Verse. Adverbs ending in -wards (AS. -weardes) and some other adverbs, such as besides, betimes, since (OE. sithens). etc., were originally genitive forms used adverbially.]

Definition: Suffixes denoting course or direction to; motion or tendency toward; as in backward, or backwards; toward, or towards, etc.

Ward, n. Etym: [AS. weard, fem., guard, weard, ward a watcher, warden, G. wart, OHG. wart, Icel. vör a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in daúrawards a doorkeeper, and E. wary; cf. OF. warde guard, from the German. See Ware, a., Wary, and cf. Guard, Wraith.]

1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship; specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note under Watch, n., 1. Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward. Spenser.

2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender; protector; means of guarding; defense; protection. For the best ward of mine honor. Shak. The assieged castle's ward Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain. Spenser. For want of other ward, He lifted up his hand, his front to guard. Dryden.

3. The state of being under guard or guardianship; confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a guardian; custody. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard. Gen. xl. 3. I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward. Shak. It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in the disposal of any of those lords. Spenser.

4. A guarding or defensive motion or position, as in fencing; guard. "Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point." Shak.

5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically: -- (a) A minor or person under the care of a guardian; as, a ward in chancery. "You know our father's ward, the fair Monimia." Otway. (b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.] (c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city. Throughout the trembling city placed a guard, Dealing an equal share to every ward. Dryden.

(d) A division of a forest. [Eng.] (e) A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward.

6. (a) A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock, to prevent the use of any key which has not a corresponding notch for passing it. (b) A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in the lock which it fits; a ward notch. Knight. The lock is made . . . more secure by attaching wards to the front, as well as to the back, plate of the lock, in which case the key must be furnished with corresponding notches. Tomlinson.

Ward penny (O. Eng. Law), money paid to the sheriff or castellan for watching and warding a castle.

– Ward staff, a constable's or watchman's staff. [Obs.]

Ward, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warded; p. pr. & vb. n. Warding.] Etym: [OE. wardien, AS. weardian to keep, protect; akin to OS. ward to watch, take care, OFries. wardia, OHG. wart, G. warten to wait, wait on, attend to, Icel. var to guarantee defend, Sw. vårda to guard, to watch; cf. OF. warder, of German origin. See Ward, n., and cf. Award, Guard, Reward.]

1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a specific sense, to guard during the day time. Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight To ward the same. Spenser.

2. To defend; to protect. Tell him it was a hand that warded him From thousand dangers. Shak.

3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.]

4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off. Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again. Daniel. The pointed javelin warded off his rage. Addison. It instructs the scholar in the various methods of warding off the force of objections. I. Watts.

Ward, v. i.

1. To be vigilant; to keep guard.

2. To act on the defensive with a weapon. She redoubling her blows drove the stranger to no other shift than to ward and go back. Sir P. Sidney.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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